“There is a book called White Rage, by Carol Anderson, about a history that most Americans don’t know: the history of oppression that African-Americans have faced from the Civil War to the present day. If every American read it, maybe we could really begin to have a real conversation about race in America as opposed to the nationwide internet comment section we currently have.”

This quote was written by Senator Al Franken, who is not anyone’s favorite person right now, but his reflection so accurately portrays what Anderson brings to the table in her book White Rage. In this 180 page masterpiece she explores the cause and effects of over half a century of political, legal and societal disenfranchisement of black Americans imposed through systematic racial division and oppression. All of this taking place, post civil war, in the wake of a country seeking to “atone” for its original sin. With precision, conviction and style she lays the hammer of judgement on a government and political system that often tries to dress itself in benevolence and altruism.